Occupational health and safety news and guidance

If the work of your business or organisation brings you into contact with vulnerable adults, you should seriously consider an adult safeguarding training. In recent years, the benefits of investing in safeguarding courses have come to the fore, with businesses citing these training courses as excellent opportunities for employees to expand their understanding of issues related to safeguarding.

However, the majority of these training courses have been related to safeguarding children. In the last year or so, adult safeguarding training courses have also been on the rise. These courses bring with them an excellent range of benefits, giving your staff a thorough understanding of what adult abuse is, what its symptoms are, how to talk about it, and ultimately how to report it.

First things first: what is “Safeguarding”?

The term ‘safeguarding’ refers to the mechanisms and processes that you put in place as an organisation to protect both the individuals within the organisation and the individuals that your work brings you into contact with.

Understand how to recognise signs and symptoms of abuse in adults

Abuse among adults can take many different shapes and forms, including (but not limited to) physical abuse, emotional abuse, sexual abuse, and neglect. Adult safeguarding training helps your employees not only recognise their differing signs and symptoms, but also develop important contextual knowledge about which adult demographics may be at an increased risk of abuse.

Safeguarding adults training: teaching your team how to talk about adult abuse

This brings us to the next benefit of adult safeguarding training: teaching your staff how to have discussions with adults who they know — or suspect — are suffering from abuse about their experiences. Knowing how to begin a conversation with someone who you believe is experiencing abuse or neglect is an invaluable skill. It helps foster trust, open communication, and a nurturing environment. These elements are key to building relationships with the individuals who you work with and can help encourage individuals to report abuse that they’re experiencing.

Learning how to effectively report abuse

A safeguarding adults training course will also guide trainees through the reporting process. This part of the training is designed to help them understand the different stages and mechanisms of the process, so they have a confident understanding of what comes after the initial act of reporting. This not only enables them to be able to answer any enquiries they might receive from beneficiaries about the process but also helps contextualise the options that are available after reporting.

Working with vulnerable or at-risk adults can be incredibly rewarding, but it also comes with serious responsibilities. Adult safeguarding helps prepare your staff for the challenges they might meet in this line of work and empowers them to be able to effectively recognise, communicate about, and report instances of abuse. It also strengthens the lessons learned in other protection-related training, such as safer recruitment training. Ultimately, this can lead to a safer work environment and stronger relationships with beneficiaries, further elevating your status as a business that excels in your sector.

Author Bio:

Keir McDonald MBE, EduCare CEO and Chairman

Keir McDonald MBE started EduCare thirty years ago with just a handful of talented people. At the time, he had little idea that his company’s learning programmes would end up teaching more than three million people about duty of care issues, including adult safeguarding training. In acknowledgement of his work and achievements in safeguarding children, Keir was honoured with an MBE for Services to Children in 2012.